burst

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To break open suddenly because of pressure from inside.

   The balloon burst with a loud bang.

2. 2
   verb

   To move or appear somewhere suddenly and with force.

   She burst into the room without knocking.

3. 3
   noun

   A sudden short period of activity, sound, or feeling.

   There was a burst of applause when she finished singing.

From Middle English bresten, bersten, from Old English berstan, from Proto-West Germanic *brestan, from Proto-Germanic *brestaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”), enlargement of *bʰreHi- (“to snip, split”). See also West Frisian boarste, Dutch barsten, Danish briste, Swedish brista; also Irish bris (“to break”)). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.

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